May 21, 2008
Iron Man
It is sort of uncanny how the best superhero movies are almost always direct sequels to loud, awkward, clunky ones. X:2 – X-Men United, Spiderman 2, and Superman 2 and 3 of the best (if not the three very best) movies I have ever seen in this genre and they all follow this formula. It is uncanny, yes, but not all-together surprising. Their prequels lack what they have in spades: chemistry. It can be tons of fun to watch a special-effects driven extravaganza, those films don’t really stay with you, nor do they hold up particularly well later on. The chemistry between the actors on the screen is what makes superhero movies memorable and that chemistry is simply too difficult to perfect in the first film of a franchise. So much energy and screen-time must be devoted to the hero’s origins and insecurities and angst and surprise over his newfound powers that there really isn’t much space for them to have relationships with anyone else we could possibly care about. Sequels have an inherent advantage in that the relationships have already been established and more time can be spent on the nuances rather than the setup.
This is precisely the reason why Iron Man took me completely by surprise. I knew beforehand that the likelihood of this film producing multiple sequels was highly likely (indeed, the director, Jon Favreau, has already imagined an Iron Man trilogy and Robert Downey, Jr. has agreed to take part) and I wasn’t really expecting much from it besides a loud action movie I’d quickly forget until its much-better sequel came out. To the contrary, Iron Man already sets the bar very high. The pacing was exactly right, the characters were relatively well-drawn and it was never boring for a second.
This kind of movie lives and dies with the performance of its lead actor. Christian Bale breathed incredible emotion into Batman, a role that George Clooney had killed with a phoned-in performance. Christopher Reeve’s gentle charm made his Superman movies a joy to watch while Brandon Routh’s awkward, uneven Superman performance was almost unwatchable. So the pressure lies squarely on the shoulders of Robert Downey, Jr. in Iron Man. He doesn’t fail or ring false at any point. He is the embodiment of charisma from the second he appears on screen until his final gesture of defiance at the end. He holds your attention in a classic, Cary Grant sort of way. Self-assured even when he’s doubting himself, determined even when he has no reason to be, handsome even when at his least attractive. He carries this film with such talent and charm that I found myself smiling just at his presence toward the middle of the film. I had no idea Downey had such effortless charisma but I have no doubt that he was the absolute perfect actor for this lead role. The supporting cast doesn’t fail either. I’m becoming more and more convinced that Jeff Bridges is among the absolute most talented actors in Hollywood. He just never appears unnatural. In Iron Man he plays the always-smiling, obviously-sleazy business partner of Robert Downey’s Tony Stark and does so with great flair. Gwenyth Paltrow…well, honestly I’ve never been a huge fan but I’d actually go so far as to say that this is her best performance in 10 years. As Stark’s assistant and confidante, she skillfully plays a character who always walks a fine line between being strong and vulnerable. She’s essentially the sidekick but not one who’s willing to sit back and play second fiddle.
The most enjoyable part of this movie, though, is not the individual performances but the dynamics between the characters. Iron Man exhibited some of the best on-screen chemistry of perhaps any superhero movie ever made. Nothing ever seemed awkward or merely perfunctory. The interactions felt true and meaningful. Most memorable were the scenes featuring Bridges and Downey. There is always a very mild resentment underneath the surface between them but it’s hard to decipher how deep it runs and how serious it is and it’s very interesting to witness two skilled actors playing that little nuance so well. However, the most impressive interactions are between Downey and his high-tech computer interface. I don’t know why he would program his computers to sass him so much or even to have so much personality but I was convinced of the perfection of Downey’s casting by these scenes. How do you act with a non-living robot or inanimate object or disembodied voice and make it seem genuine? I don’t want to spoil too much about these scenes because they are the most entertaining of the movie, but they are pulled off so flawlessly that I felt the need to applaud.
I almost dread the idea of a sequel to Iron Man. I feel like they really did such a great job this time around that there’s nowhere for the franchise to go but down. Almost certainly, successive movies will quickly become derivative. The actors will be on cruise control, the director too self-assured. It happened to all 3 of the franchises I mentioned before and I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens here. So I encourage people to go out and enjoy Iron Man now, while its legacy is still intact.
